Skip to main content

tv   BBC World News America  PBS  July 28, 2011 6:00pm-6:30pm EDT

6:00 pm
>> this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. d an and union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its
6:01 pm
global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> this is "bbc world news" america. reporting from washington, i'm jane o'brien. racing to beat the default deadline, with just five days to go. the pressure mounts on u.s. politicians to get the deal done. >> this is time for a grown-up moment to, act like adults, to work with the senate and the president to come up with a bipartisan deal and to get this job done. >> beyond washington, americans are feeling the economic pinch. we go to turkey where the deep -- dream of a middle class life has gone bust for many. and another issue in the phone hacking scandal. police say the mother of the
6:02 pm
murdered young girl may have been a target. welcome to our viewers on pbs and america and around the globe. taking it to the wire. that's what the u.s. congress is doing. next tuesday is the deadline for raising the country's dead ceiling or going into default, but with just five days to go the political shots are flying fast and furious. tonight the end game is still far from clear, reason enough for the world's markets to worry. andrea north -- andrew north starts our coverage. >> fears of the rippling effect are worldwide. at the u.s. congress the battle goes on. some republican hard liners are now backing their party's plan for a short-term increase in the debt limit, insisting americans are on their side. >> they want to see the president's plan.
6:03 pm
if he thinks he can do better, show us your plan. in if the senate thinks they can do better, pass a bill! we are the only ones who have passed a bill to resolve this debt crisis issue. we're going to pass a second one today. we're taking democrat ideas in this bill. >> but the white house has already rejected the republicans' plan, saying it will just postpone the inevitable. >> any proposal that puts us through this three-ring circus again we're opposed to. it's already had significant negative impact on the economy. it will only have even more and more severe negative impact. it's a small sign of progress that republican hard liners are now rallying behind their party's proposals, but what's really needed is compromise between the republicans and democrats and that's still a long way off. there are already signs the uncertainty created by the debt
6:04 pm
showdown is under mining confidence. with the u.s. economy still anemic and many economists believe that whatever happens, america's credit rating will end up being downgraded. andrew north, "bbc news," washington. >> tonight the vote which was supposed to be taking place in the house of representatives on speaker boehner's plan has been delayed. for more we go to our north america editor, who is on clip. do we know why it's been delayed? >> i think the reason is pretty simple. they don't think they've got the votes at the moment. but with this waiting, the house is now discussing what the name of the post office in myself should be. republican leader john boehner has been seeing his hard liners all afternoon. one of them who said that senior aides he's spoken to,
6:05 pm
they've been trying to persuade him this is the responsible thing to do to vote for this plan. he's saying absolutely not. i spoke to another congressman who said he initially didn't like the plan at all but he has been persuaded that it's the responsible thing to do to vote for it. there's a lot of this last-minute stuff going on up to the wire and obviously john boehner has found that he hasn't got the votes at the moment so they're putting all the effort into the last few hours and hope they get a vote later tonight. >> even if they do get this bill passed tonight, what happens next? >> next it goes to the senate, which is controlled by the democrats and gets killed. so why does this vote matter? it's sort of symbolically important because it tells us that john boehner is having a real struggle to get his own republicans to vote for a
6:06 pm
republican plan. what happens if it's killed in the senate is that they have to reach a compromise with the democrats, find out some way forward. that's going to be even more difficult to semi. this is going to go on, i think, for the next few days, just trying to find something, craft something, that is acceptable to both sides but it's so difficult. >> mark, you've spent many years covering politics in europe. does this compare with anything in your experience? >> no, not really. the french occasionally have a president of one party and the parliament of another but it's more of a parliamentary system. it's abuse two things, really. the it logical gulf in america is very, very wide. two very different views of the way a country's economics should be run, and also the system means that the president can easily be of one party and the congress part of it
6:07 pm
another. so the system dictates moving forward very, very slowly. it was designed that way in this ways and this is sort of the result that you get. seems like gridlock at the moment. >> thank you very much for joining us. and the ramifications of what's happening on capitol hill stretch far beyond the boundaries of the united states. for more on the global impact we go to sydney where we're joined by abc's business editor peter ryan. thank you very much for joining us. how are the markets viewing the u.s. debt crisis? do they think that default is inevitable? >> i think that the markets in asia and the pacific are really preparing for the worst and hoping for the best but sitting back in amazement that the united states would actually take itself to the brink of perhaps defaulting on all or some of its debt but perhaps more importantly in the short term that that triple-a credit
6:08 pm
rating for the united states maybe -- might be in jeopardy. in asia yesterday we saw tokyo down 1.5%. the index here in australia was down 1.6% and it was a pretty rocky day in hong kong and just up marginally but there's so much uncertainty that no one seems to be getting off the sidelines until we see what happens with this vote. >> some members of congress are going to think the default is going to be the catastrophe that many people think. what effects generally do you think it's likely to have on the global market? >> i think this could be summed up in a real delusion of the reputation and credibility of the united states, given that even now still u.s. treasury bonds are seen as the world east safest investment, but anything in terms of a ratings
6:09 pm
downgrade means there's a slightly higher element of risk on those u.s. treasury bonds and it goes to what's happened in the united states since the collapse of lemon brothers and the slow demise of america's reputation and strength as a global economic force, but also , certainly from australia, there's a mild embarrassment that local political theater is driving something that will impact not just the united states but the confidence that the rest of the world has and should have in the united states. >> we know, of course, that many other countries, particularly in europe, are struggling with their own debt problems. what effect is the u.s. situation likely to have on their battles? is it going to make it more difficult? >> well, in australia it's a very interesting situation. just a couple of days ago we had a much stronger than expected inflation reading and as your viewers probably know,
6:10 pm
australia has been leading the world in pushing interest rates higher since about september 2009. the cash rate in australia is now 4.75%. but expectations are growing that perhaps even next week when australia's reserve bank meets or maybe later in the year that interest rates will be pushed up and this is despite the uncertainty coming out of europe and of course the default and the ratings future for the united states. in australia, we're dealing with a multispeed or patch work economy where the big mining states of western australia and the northern territory are booming ahead and it's been described as a scenario that's been akin to the gold rush of the 18 50's, but here on the east coast in new south wales and queensland, times are very tough economically. retail sales are down -- >> peter, i'm so sorry but i
6:11 pm
have to stop you there. we're out of time. thank you very much for joining us from sydney. now to the u.k. where there are further allegations in the phone hacking scandal which has rocked the murdoch media empire. police have told the mother of a child that she was on the list of people whose phone may have been hacked. notes of her phone number was on an investigate's notes. the bbc's report. >> perhaps it seemed this astonishing affair no longer had the reputation to shock. but the mother who worked alongside the news of the world alongside its former editor was all along one of its victims. sarah payne's charity was contacted last night to be told her details were in the notebooks of the phone hacker.
6:12 pm
it says "we are all deeply disappointed and we are just working to get her through it." the last night of "the news of the world" and it's last edition. sarah payne had previously been told she was not a hacking victim. she had been asked to write a last article. she described the paper as an old friend. >> a series of tragic news stories -- >> and rebecca brooks, former editor, describes sarah payne as her dear friend. the two worked together to campaign for "sarah's law," the public right to know where pedophiles are living. tonight rebecca said these allegations are abhorrent. the idea that anyone on this newspaper knew that sarah or the team were targeted were -- is unthinkable. the sarah's law campaign began
6:13 pm
in 2004. glenn mulciar was arrested in 2006. if it was news international who intercepted the information, this was the reaction of one m.p. >> news international didn't just campaign for sarah's law. they gave personal support for sarah and her family. they produced literature. they took her to party meetings. >> her newspaper got her high-level meetings and targeted phones. but it's said the voice mail on this phone was not activated until 18 months ago, suggesting there were no messages. today's allegations surfaced hours after lord justice lev son said his judicial inquiry
6:14 pm
could begin while the police begin to n.f.c. >> i believe it should be problem to focus on the extent of the problem which would not prejudice an investigation without examining who did what to woman whom, it might. >> news international said once the facts were known it was take action. and glenn repeated his mantra. >> i have no statement to make. >> in libya the rebels are saying their military chief abdel fattah younes had been sthot dead. the rebel leadership council announceded he was killed hours after he was recalled from the front by the rebels. taliban militants have carried out a major attack in southern afghanistan, killing more than 20 people, including a bbc reporter.
6:15 pm
the assault targeted the officers of the deputy governor, police headquarters and a private security firm. a u.s. soldier has been arrested near the fort hood military base in texas after being found with bomb-making materials. the serviceman has admitted planning an attack. in china, the government is facing a public backlash over the way it handled a high speed train crash which killed 39. authorities say the crash was called by design flaws and signaling equipment but allegations of corruption and lack of transparency are fueling public anger. the premier has visited the crash site. the bbc's martin patience reports from the scene. >> wen jiabo is the soft paternal face of the communist
6:16 pm
party. in times like this he's called upon to soothe the nation's nerves. at the crash site he paid his respects but he was also bowing to public pressure. >> no matter if it's a mechanical fault, a management problem, or indeed a manufacturing issue, we will get to the bottom of this. >> the two high-speed trains collided on saturday night. authorities say the crash was caused by a signals failure. this train crash not only called into question the future of china's high-speed rail network, it also created a deep sense of mistrust between the authorities and the people. a seething public anger has been building here over a lack of answers.
6:17 pm
it's been enflamed by allegations of corruption, which are likely to have compromised the safety of the network. this woman is looking for answers. her husband was killed in the crash. >> officials from the railway ministry shucked off responsibility. they kept blaming the accident on the lightning strike. what i'm looking for a is clear explanation of what happened. >> china is spending hundredings of billions of dollars on its high-speed rail network. but critics say it's been built too fast, this is compromising safeties. once it started as a project that generated huge national pride but it's now created anger. >> you're watching bbc word news america. and still to come, a journey
6:18 pm
with steinbeck's classic novel and what it tells us about america's struggles today. the police in norway say that ending their search for bodies on utoeya island but senior officers couldn't confirm that all those missing had been found. anders breivik has admitted to killings there. from oslo, the bbc's jon brain. >> at the cathedral, the floral carpet continues to grow. ivan knows one of these tributes could have easily been for him. he came face to face with the gunman and lived. >> he started shooting around me and he got several of the guys around me and then he has to -- had to reload his gun and then i got my chance to get
6:19 pm
away and i ran into the water and i started swimming. i got my clothes soaked and started swimming. >> and was he still firing at you? >> yeah, then he reloaded his gun and started firing again. he went down to the water and shot many of the people trying to escape from there. luckily he didn't get me. i was just lucky. >> the majority of the people on the island did escape anders breivik but doesn't mean they completely avoided harm. the skithe treating the -- psychiatrist treating the victims said many are suffering. >> this is an act of a human being and this causes more stress than disasters caused by nature. >> meanwhile, the latest stage
6:20 pm
in the healing process here in oslo will come tomorrow with a memorial event in the city sentimenter to mark the exact time the attacks took place. >> returning now to the state of the u.s. economy. as lawmakers continue to argue on capitol hill, many americans are struggling under the burdens of high employment and an uncertain financial future. it's a story reminiscent of that told by john steinbeck in his pulitzer prize winning novel "games of wrath." what kind of journey can the jobe family tell us about modern day society? paul mason has the story. >> with unemployment rising, the great american job search goes on. albuquerque, still suffering from the bust that followed the house price boom, post add fall in unemployment in june, in
6:21 pm
part deux to a pickup in public sector jobs. for those who don't succeed there's a growing problem, where to live. joy junction is a shelter for the homeless. jeremy reynolds runs it. has it got worse? >> oh, absolutely. absolutely. and i represent -- anticipate it getting even worse. >> why? >> because we have a faltering economy. all these people around here, if you ask them how our rebounding economy has rebounded for them, they will laugh you off the property. >> normally the people here were suffering from drink or violence. now there's a new customer. the american middle class. >> i'm larry and this is my daughter michelle. we're here because of the economic times. my spouse took off on us and that cut our income in half.
6:22 pm
we lost our place and here we are. >> they've been living like this for three months. he is a truck driver but can't get work so he works for his welfare money, $300 a month. this man was not long ago the manager of a vehicle fleet. they lived in a motel but the money went out. >> with no secure jobs, when you lose one and you have to downgrade you have to downgrade your lifestyle. the bills start racking up. after that, you start losing stuff. cars start getting taken, e, you can't pay your note, you end up here. >> how has it been for you to cope with this? what's the toughest thing? you've been here how many night now? >> it's my second week. >> second week. and what's the hardest thing about it? >> well, just not having my kids here.
6:23 pm
that would be my number one concern. >> the low-cost moats in albuquerque play a hidden role -- motels in albuquerque play a hidden role. many of them are housing the hidden homeless. what role does this play in the whole housing and homeless system? >> huge. many folks of the first seven to 10 days of each month they get the government welfare check. they spend some or all of that on getting a room for seven to 10 days. then once the check runs out they imgrate or migrate down to joy junction. so it's like an alternating system? >> it is. >> the housing crisis. many americans cannot afford to put a roof over their head and home rep sessions are still rising. >> now to a new museum which
6:24 pm
features in its vast collection the first color television and a 37-foot totem pole. these and other unique objects will be on display for the first time in decade at the national museum of scotland. it's opening its doors tomorrow and our scotland correspondent has gone to have a look. >> this is a story of a restless people and a restless nation. scotland's heritage of invention and discovery put this small country on the map. the power of the steam engine revolutionized industry. the television changed the lives of millions. and scots sent back structures from afar. >> scots were great inventors and explore rers and colonial explorers were missionaries. in many ways the stories we
6:25 pm
tell here are in part the story of scotland's engagement with the rest of the world. >> there are much older tales like t-rex and the national history gallery. in here there are stories of survival and some of the exhibits themselves have survived for decade in the freezer. some date back to the 19th century. now they're being used again to teach the theory of evolution. charles darwin once lived on the site of the museum. he was just a student in scotland but this man's discovery for discoverying penicillin is a gem in they can electic museum. >> we have a chance to bring lots of subjects together and bring people a way to understand the inter connectiveness. >> scotland has a rich literary
6:26 pm
tradition too. once of -- one of its heirs is sthrander mccall smith. what does this museum say today? >> it demonstrates there's a spirit of confidence in scotland. whatever happens politically it will encourage people to perhaps take a more optimistic view of the future. >> with 8,000 exhibits both small and large, the curators hope more than a million visitors a year will come to gaze and wonder. >> games -- james cook reporting. that brings us to the end of the day's broadcast but you can find constant updates at our website at any time. visit our facebook page at facebook.com/bbc world news. thank you for watching and see you back here tomorrow. io
6:27 pm
>> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. ♪
6:28 pm
>> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range ofcompies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet, los presented by kcet, los angeles.
6:29 pm

205 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on